First, we need to qualify my Hall of Fame. There are players in there that don’t belong, in my opinion (Bruce Sutter, Lloyd Waner, Bill Mazeroski, the list goes on). So I’m more an elitist, purist, pick-the-word-for-baseball-snob. I’m voting for the people, in my eyes, that are no-brainers. I want an idealized Baseball Hall of Fame. I don’t want borderline people there. So with that in mind, here are my selections for 2008 induction.

1. Mark McGwire – He did steroids, andro, rubbed Moises Alou’s urine on his hands… Yes, he did all of that. But he was an absolute monster during the years when it’s safe to say everyone was juicing or impossible to prove anyone wasn’t juicing. There were a few years in there when Marge Schott was probably juicing — God Bless her racist soul. So, all things considered, how do you leave out Mark McGwire? He should be in already, you puritans. Now go churn your butter!

2. Bert Blyeven – His case has been made to the point of over saturation. If you’d like, check out this, this or just watch Bert drop the F-bomb a few times:

3. Goose Goosage – He was the Mariano Rivera of his day. Frankly, he was way more dominant than Sutter. Throwing out his first four seasons where the teams he played for tried him as a starter, he’d have a 2.55 ERA in 1366.1 innings. Um, that’s pretty good. He’s a Hall of Famer. Don’t believe me, I’m sure opposing hitters will attest to it.That’s it for my votes. I’d let Raines wait a few years then reconsider him. Trammel, Murphy, Dawson and Lee Smith were good players, sometimes great, but they’re not Hall of Famers. Let’s put it this way, did anyone ever watch Alan Trammel and say, “Now there’s a Hall of Famer”? Or at least anyone outside of Detroit and sober?

He gets in easily. There’s no way of knowing who was juicing and who wasn’t. Do we let in Ken Griffey Jr. just because no one has speculated he’s juicing? If a player excelled when everyone could have been taking steroids then everyone who is worthy based on their numbers has to get in. Can’t pick and choose players. If you let in one player from the steroids era, you must let in everyone.

3) I’d vote for Tim “Crack Rock” Raines. If only he talked about himself in the third person like Rickey, maybe he’d have more support. After his final SB, he should’ve lifted the base and proclaimed “I am the 5th greatest!”

4) You didn’t even mention Jim Rice. Dan Shaughnessy and the Sports Guy are gonna be wicked pissed.